"...Under the mag-beam concept, a space-based station would generate a stream of magnetized ions that would interact with a magnetic sail on a spacecraft and propel it through the solar system at high speeds that increase with the size of the plasma beam. Winglee estimates that a control nozzle 32 meters wide would generate a plasma beam capable of propelling a spacecraft at 11.7 kilometers per second. That translates to more than 26,000 miles an hour or more than 625,000 miles a day...."

Nifty, if they can pull it off. However, any time someone discusses using beams to direct power for whatever purpose, I begin to think about the "microwave oops" disaster from SimCity 2000.. (or was it 3000? I forget)

_________________"Floating down the sound resounds around the icy waters underground.."

[quote="Strategery71"However, any time someone discusses using beams to direct power for whatever purpose, I begin to think about the "microwave oops" disaster from SimCity 2000.. (or was it 3000? I forget)[/quote]

Which is really too bad.

The whole point of the beamed power system was that if the targeting got messed up, nobody got hurt, nothing got damaged. And, if birds flew through it while it was still on, they'd be OK.

As I remember Wingley's study he is considering a payload of around 200 kg only.

So there's a problem concerning manned spaceships to Mars.

Wingley considers the solar wind itself as I remember - and not an artificial beam of captured particles. Am I wrong?

But a special particle accelerator might be of use. But what amount of costs might the construction in space include? The particles/ions have to collected - what way? Using a bussard collector? Might have to be too large. There are only a few places in the solar system where the ion/particle density might be sufficient - the radiation belts of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus and inside the orbit of Mercury (Mercury itself included). ...

For any reason I thought of the article "Strange Things Happen at Full Moon" ( ) a few moments ago. The interesting parts of it are

Quote:

At full moon, the moon passes through a huge "plasma sheet" â€” hot charged particles trapped in the tail. The lightest and most mobile of these particles, electrons, pepper the moon's surface and give the moon a negative charge, the researchers explained.

,

Quote:

But on the night side, electrons accumulate and the charge can climb to thousands of volts.

.

This makes me wonder if the MagBeam-concept could developed, tested and applied on the Moon more easyly than in any earthian orbit. I am not sure because the article on one side talks about a plasma sheet which sounds as if ions are available while on the other side it focusses on electrons which seem to be insufficient to propell a craft.

What about it?

What about the concepts to protect a lunar base against the solar wind by spheres expelling protons - could this be modified so that the expelled protons behave like in the MagBeam concept?